Alejandro Cegarra

ALEJANDRO CEGARRA was born in 1989 in Caracas, Venezuela, the city he still calls home. He began studying photography four years ago in the Roberto Mata Taller de Fortografia (Roberto Mata Photography Workshop) while at the same time studying publicity at Alejandro de Humboldt University. After working for a year at the advertising agency Creative Army and viewing photography as only a hobby, he decided to pursue photography more fully. In 2012 he started filling in for other photographers at the largest newspaper in Venezuela, Ultimas Noticias (Latest News). Simultaneously he worked for two other newspapers, Ciudad Caracas and 2001, returning as a full-time employee of Ultimas Noticias in 2013. Since November 2013, Alejandro has been working as a stringer for Associated Press. In early 2014 he was selected to exhibit photography in the PhotoEspaña Festival and chosen by the Magnum Photo Agency as part of the “30 Under 30” contest. He won the Audience Award in that competition, and his works were exhibited in Birmingham, England. His series “The Other Side of the Tower of David” won 3rd place in the Sony World Photography Awards in the Contemporary Issues category and was exhibited at Somerset House in London, England. Also in 2014, he was a finalist in the Emerging Photography Fund of BURN magazine, the winner of the Ian Parry Scholarship, and the winner of the Leica Oscar Barnack Newcomer Award.

Photo by ALEJANDRO CEGARRA

Alejandro Cegarra

Violence in Venezuela

VENEZUELA, DESPITE HAVING THE largest oil reserves in the world, priced at $100 a barrel, and the largest economic boom in our history, from 2000 to 2012, is a country under economic crisis. Chavez had the biggest oil revenue in the history of Venezuela under his control. He also implemented numerous outreach programs and redistribution of wealth. However, during his command, the country also experienced the highest murder rate in its history, becoming the third most dangerous country in the world.

Despite the initiation of 21 security plans over 14 years, violence has done nothing but increase. The country maintains a poor system of law enforcement and justice. The estimated 200,000 members of the Venezuelan security forces are an inadequate number, especially given the exorbitant figures, ranging from 79-114 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

Aside from the numbers, law enforcement officers have extremely low wages and little to no logistical support. Most specifically, the CICPC officials (Forensic Police), prosecutors, and judges are overwhelmed. They may have up to 700 cases per month. Given these high numbers, the impunity rate is 90%. Criminals continue to repeat crimes, as there are no real repercussions for them.

Violent society is generated by the lack of adequate law enforcement.

The law does not reach the slums of Caracas. They are a virtual “no man’s land” where “survival of the fittest” prevails. This is thanks in large part to the large number of weapons circulating in Venezuela, which is between 9 and 15 million, despite the government’s disarmament plans.

Many of these weapons come from Colombia to protect the drug route passing through Venezuela to Europe. Others serve to feed irregular guerrilla and paramilitary operations surrounding the border. There are also guns that circulate as a product of corruption and which are illegally stolen from the police and sold within the country.

For those who are incarcerated, the government has failed in their treatment. Prisons are severely overcrowded and unsanitary, and there are some that have fallen into a state of insurrection. These jails are ruled by the “PRAN,” which is a group of prison inmates who control the prisons with drug trafficking, kidnapping, and even prostitution.

This photo essay seeks to tell the main problem of the Venezuelan people: violence.